Harsh Reality
by MsMoth
Summary: Regina Mills cursed an entire world to prevent them from achieving their happily ever afters. Then Emma Swan wanders into town and it all goes to hell.


**Disclaimer**: I do not own any of the characters or the TV show.

**A/N**: Well this is my first foray into writing a OuaT fic, although I've read a lot of the stories within the fandom. It will pretty much be canon throughout season one, though I make no promises. Also this will be femslash so run away now if that's not your thing. If that is your thing then I hope you enjoy this story.

* * *

Once upon a time there was a Queen. She was everything one would expect of a Queen, for she was beautiful and intelligent but, most of all, she was ruthless. This ruthlessness is what set her apart from the other monarchs for she was not afraid, not afraid to take whatever she wished and use whatever methods she needed to achieve her goals. Unfortunately her methods were not what one would consider astronomically 'good', for they were wrought with underhanded tricks and manipulations. Others did not look kindly upon these methods and, once the Queen's natural affinity for Magick became common knowledge, rumours began to spread. These rumours told of a Queen who was filled with darkness, who had murdered her husband and tried to destroy the life of her innocent step-daughter, who used untamed Magicks to achieve her goals with no care in the world for the chaos she left in her wake. Although unfounded, or perhaps one should say unproved, these rumours proceeded to separate her from the other sovereignties. Her fellow monarchs now looked to her with disdain for she was no longer just a ruthless leader but a witch, and all witches were creatures to be feared.

Thus began a chain reaction.

The Queen's former allies and acquaintances became standoffish and displayed nothing but contempt towards her and the Magicks she used. They did not understand the nature of her Magick and so looked down upon her for it; they ended all but the necessary communications between their Kingdoms and trapped her in a state of isolation. So while others achieved their happy endings this particular Queen drowned in bitter loneliness, her only companions being the Magicks that she was shunned for using and that of her own mind.

Left only to herself this intelligent Queen began to contemplate the injustices of her life and compared what had become of her to what had become of the ones that had caused this state of isolation. She witnessed their happiness and raged against that which she was denied. Slowly plans began to take form within the recesses of her mind, plans of revenge, a revenge that steadily consumed all that she was. She wanted revenge for what her life had become; revenge upon all those who had shunned her; revenge upon those who had dismissed her and propelled her into permanent isolation but, mostly, she wanted revenge on the girl that had destroyed her life. Their happiness and her loneliness became a constant reminder of what they had taken from her and revenge became her one true goal. To her none of those worthless creatures deserved a happy ending, and so she would destroy them, destroy them and the happy endings they craved. This was the turning point. This was the moment that the Queen accepted the role that others had chosen for her. This was the point in which she summoned Rumpelstiltskin and arose as the Evil Queen.

...

Once upon a time there lived a Queen with lips red as a rose, hair black as ebony, and skin white as snow. She was considered by many to be the fairest in the land and, when she was but a Princess, she was coveted by all. She was coveted for her looks, her status and her good-natured innocence. However this Princess was not all that she seemed, for there was something that the common folk and nobles did not know, for they had no knowledge of the heinous act she had committed against the one that the people would later call the Evil Queen.

Surprisingly the relationship between the Princess and the future Evil Queen had begun remarkably well, with the latter saving the former from breaking her neck when she lost control of her horse. Remarkably quickly the little Princess became downright attached to this woman who had saved her, as did her father the King, and that is where the problems began. Once the King has learnt of his daughter's near fatal accident, he immediately wanted to visit her saviour to express his gratitude. Regrettably once the King laid eyes upon her beauty he proceeded to express his gratitude through what he imagined was the greatest gift he could bestow; he offered the woman his hand in marriage.

This was regrettable because the Princess' saviour did not wish for this gift since she already had a love and did not want to become bound to this King and his Kingdom. Thus she tried to politely, but firmly, reject his offer. Alas all did not go to plan because of the actions of her mother. Her mother, aptly named Cora, desperately craved power and wealth, and so refused to see her daughter turn down such a splendid opportunity. She forced her daughter into accepting the King's hand and lo the Kingdom gained a future Queen.

Now this is the point at which the plot thickens, for the future Queen did not intend to marry the King, no matter how much her mother tried to 'convince' her. Hence, while she pretended to accept her new role and plan her wedding, in reality she was plotting a plan of escape. Her intention was to run away with Daniel, the stable boy, for he was her true love. Unluckily, quite by accident, the little Princess walked in on them whilst they were professing their love for one another. Of course the Princess was distraught, she desperately wanted her saviour to be her mother, however once the situation was explained to her she understood that the happiness that true love granted was worth more than her need for a new mother. She agreed to keep her saviour's secret.

Tragically a little girl is no match for a manipulative woman and, through her ignorance or perhaps one could say innocence, the Princess told Cora about her daughter's plan to run away and marry the stable boy. This is the unforgivable act the Princess committed towards the Evil Queen, for in her ignorance she betrayed her saviour and destroyed any chance of the Queen achieving any from of happiness with her true love. That night was filled with loss and pain, the details of which the Princess did not learn off until much later in her life. Sadly only once she had heard the tale of how her stepmother had been tortured by Cora, of how the stable boy's heart had been ripped out and crushed right in front of her, did the Princess understand why the Queen hated her so. She had ruined her stepmother's chance at happiness and trapped her in a life with the King, a life which held nothing but resentment and revulsion.

The ultimate price for this betrayal being the revenge the Evil Queen enacted throughout many years, revenge which began with an apple and ended with a curse.

...

Once upon a time there was a child named Emma. This child had neither parents nor a last name. The latter was easily rectified but the former caused a life where Emma drifted through the foster system, going from one family to the next. One consequence of this being that early on in life Emma realised that she was not like other children; one of the main differences being that she did not believe in happy endings since her entire life had been filled with nought but misery. She was not wanted. She was not loved. She had no one but herself. She was alone.

Until one day she met a boy, a boy who was a talented thief and who told her that he loved her. For the first time in her life she was somewhat happy; for the first time she believed that maybe love did exist, and just maybe she was worthy enough to be on the receiving end of it. But then came betrayal and a prison sentence. And once again Emma learnt that there was no such thing as love, and if there was then it was a fickle emotion at best. She reiterated to herself that she was the only person that she could rely on because, in the end, she was all that she had. Until that is she discovered she was pregnant.

However a baby was not part of Emma's plan. Not that she had a plan but how was she supposed to look after a child when she could hardly look after herself? No, she would not be a good mother and this child deserved the best family possible, and so she gave him up for adoption.

Ten years passed and Emma's life was pretty much the same as it had always been, minus the felonies. That all changed though on her birthday when she opened her door and found a boy. A boy who declared that she was his mother and he needed her help. He regaled her with stories of fairy tales, of how his mother was the Evil Queen, and the only one that could break the curse that had been cast was Emma. One day Emma Swan opened up the door to her ten year old son and her life was forever changed.

...

Once upon a time there was a small town called Storybrooke. Stroybrooke was perceived by most to be a simple American town located within Maine. This was not in fact true. Storybrooke was special because, although it was located in a Land Without Magic, it was inhabited by cursed individuals. Of course they did not know they were cursed, in fact they could not remember a single thing about their previous lives, nor did they remember that once upon a time they had all lived happily ever after. In this life none of them achieved their happily ever after; this was the Evil Queen's revenge.

...

Once upon a time Emma Swan came to Storybrooke to return her son to his mother.

...

Once upon a time Regina Mills met her son's biological mother and her world was torn apart.

...

Once upon a time the hands of a clock moved for the very first time.

...

This is where our story begins.


End file.
